wfn.org | A seminary degree for 'working people'

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

For more information contact:
Kathryn McCormick
kccormick@dfms.org
212/922-5383

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99-123

Joining faith and life in a seminary degree for 'working people'

by Kathryn McCormick

     (ENS) Singer Peggy Lee might not have had theology in mind 
when she asked, "Is That All There Is?" in her hit single years 
ago, but a growing number of successful professionals are taking 
up the question and looking for answers in pastoral and spiritual 
studies.

     One program designed specifically to respond to these 
professionals is the three-year-old master of arts in pastoral 
ministry degree at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the 
Southwest in Austin, Texas.

     It is a rigorous program that marries seminary-quality 
education with the scheduling demands of people already immersed 
in careers outside the church. The idea has proved popular, 
according to program director Corinne Ware. The program began 
with a dozen students, she noted. It will begin its fourth year 
this fall with more than 45.

     "It's designed for working people," Ware explained. "The 
dean was concerned that there were laypersons in churches who 
wanted a seminary education but who were not called to quit the 
work they were doing or to become ordained." The dean, Durstan 
McDonald, launched a project to develop a course for them, she 
said.

     Will Spong, professor of pastoral care at the seminary, 
became interested and used a six-month sabbatical to design the 
degree program and "figure out how we would do it," Ware 
recalled. In extensive correspondence with other seminaries, Ware 
said, Spong learned that "there weren't any other programs like 
this. There were ingredients here and there, but nothing like 
what we wanted to do."

Three tracks of study

     The finished program offers three "tracks" of specialized 
study in discipleship, spiritual formation or counseling. 
Students are limited to three courses per semester, which means 
that they can complete the discipleship or spiritual formation 
tracks in three years, while students on the counseling track 
graduate after four years. Part-time students may take one or two 
years longer. Courses are offered on weeknights and on Saturdays.

     "Our program attracts what I call mid-life professionals," 
said Ware. Most are between 40 and 60, but "we attract people 
right out of college, and we have one woman who is 86. She's in 
the spiritual formation program," Ware added. Many of the 
students are in professions that they see as ministries, such as 
social work or human resources, and they are looking to deepen 
their spiritual understanding of their work.

     The degree program is open to persons of all faiths. Ware 
said the students come from a variety of cultures and religious 
traditions, which gives all of them "an opportunity to hear about 
faith as it is filtered through the various denominations." The 
counseling track particularly emphasizes cross-cultural 
differences, Ware said, "so that students will appreciate how 
growing up in a certain culture might affect your view of the 
world."

     The first three graduates of the program, who received their 
diplomas last spring, are all Episcopalians.

     Doug Knox and his wife, Beverly, both 60, knew from the 
start that the pastoral ministry degree was just what they 
wanted. In fact, they bet their Scottsdale, Arizona, house on it. 

     "I remember he had this look on his face and he said 'I 
could do this,'" Beverly Knox recalled  of the moment the couple 
received the brochure describing the program. They sold their 
house and set out for Austin, where Doug Knox secured a job. They 
enrolled as degree candidates and worked through three years' 
worth of constant sacrifices--learning to postpone fun until 
assignments were read and papers written. 

     Doug Knox is currently working as an Episcopal lay minister 
and Beverly Knox has begun a ministry in spiritual direction, 
Ware reported proudly.

Integrating faith and practice

     Delda Skinner, the third graduate, learned about the then 
brand-new program during a visit to the seminary campus. A former 
student who dropped out of studies for a master's degree in 
religion after one of her four grown children fell ill, Skinner 
paused in the library for a chat with Spong, who recommended the 
program he had recently designed.

     She found that work for the degree nurtured not only her 
spirituality but also her love of art. An accomplished artist, 
she is busy working with another artist and a theologian to 
prepare a course--"Art and Soul: The Dialogue of Faith"--for the 
2001 pastoral ministry curriculum, Ware said.

     She said that the degree program has proved so successful 
that the seminary has now launched a certificate program of 
special studies in discipleship and spiritual formation for those 
seeking some of the education but who aren't interested in a 
master's degree.

     Faculty members have come to love teaching students in the 
program, she said. "Professors thoroughly enjoy it. These are 
students who are seasoned in inquiry and who are eager to be in 
the classes. Adjunct professors love to come because it offers 
them a chance to teach integrated faith and practice, something 
they don't get to do in the secular world."

Further information about the program may be obtained from the 
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, P.O. Box 2247, 
Austin TX 78768-9946. 

--Kathryn McCormick is associate director of the Office of News 
and Information of the Episcopal Church.